- AstraZeneca said the planned site will begin design and construction this year.
- It will be the FTSE 100 company’s first end-to-end ADC production facility.
AstraZeneca plans to build a $1.5 billion manufacturing facility in Singapore dedicated to manufacturing antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).
The pharmaceutical giant said the planned site, which it hopes will be carbon-neutral from day one, will begin design and construction later this year and will be “operationally ready” by 2029.
FTSE 100-listed and backed by the Singapore Economic Development Board, AstraZeneca’s first end-to-end ADC production facility responds to strong demand for the drugmaker’s oncology offering.
New factory: AstraZeneca plans to build $1.5 billion manufacturing plant in Singapore to make antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs)
ADCs are highly specific drugs that use antibodies to deliver anticancer agents directly to cancer cells, while sparing healthy cells and having fewer serious side effects than traditional chemotherapy.
Its development involves producing antibodies, synthesizing the chemotherapy drug and its linker, conjugating the drug-linker to the antibody, and filling the complete ADC substance.
Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, said: “Singapore is one of the world’s most attractive countries for investment given its reputation for excellence in complex manufacturing, and I am excited that AstraZeneca will locate our US$1.5 billion ADC manufacturing facility. dollars in the country”.
In April, AstraZeneca reported that its first-quarter revenue and profit beat expectations thanks to growing demand for its oncology drugs, such as lung cancer treatments Tagrisso and Imfinzi.
Its total revenue rose by $1.8bn at constant exchange rates to $12.7bn (£10.2bn), compared with analyst estimates of $11.8bn, while earnings per share rose by 12 percent to $2.06 per share.
The trade further benefited from sales of type 2 diabetes drug Farxiga, its most popular selling drug, which rose 45 percent to nearly $1.9 billion.
As a result, the group reiterated its guidance for revenue and underlying EPS to grow by a low double-digit to low-teens percentage this year.
Since the result was announced, AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine has been withdrawn from global circulation due to concerns that it may cause a rare and dangerous side effect, causing blood clots and low blood platelet counts.
Despite the controversy, the vaccine is credited with saving millions of lives during the pandemic, and AstraZeneca said the decision to pull it from the market was a commercial one.
AstraZeneca Stock They were down 0.2 per cent at £120.86 on Monday morning, but have risen around 12 per cent over the past year.